claims procedure

Claims Procedure prior to 1st June 2012

In an emergency

You should first check that the circumstances are covered by Your policy. Having done this please contact the number shown below, giving Your name, Certificate number, and as much information as possible.

Please give Us a telephone, fax or telex number where We can contact You or leave messages at any time of the day or night.

To comply with the terms and conditions of the insurance You MUST contact Us as soon as possible. You MUST obtain Our prior authorisation before incurring any expenses over £500, except in case of emergency. In case of emergency, if You are physically prevented from contacting Us immediately, You or someone designated by You must contact Us within 48 hours.

For assistance outside U.K. dial: +44 844 338 6047 or +44 1444 442975

If travelling alone, We recommend that You should carry Your insurance documents with You at all times.

Making a claim on your return home

First, check Your Certificate and the appropriate Section of Your policy to make sure that what You are claiming for is covered.

Claims forms can be obtained from www.eaclaims.co.uk. Alternatively telephone Our Claims Helpline on 0844 338 6049 to obtain a claim form, giving Your name and Certificate number, and brief details of Your claim.

All claims must be notified within 28 days of Your return on a policy claim form, accompanied by original invoices, receipts, reports, etc. Please refer to the relevant Section of Your policy for specific conditions and details of the supporting evidence that We require. Please remember that it is always advisable to retain copies of all documents when submitting Your claim form. We recommend you use registered post.

In order to handle claims quickly, We may use appointed claims handling agents.

When claims settlements are made by the BACS (Bank Automatic Clearing System) or other electronic banking system method, You will be responsible for supplying Us with the correct bank account details and Your full authority for Us to remit monies directly to that account. Provided that payment is remitted to the bank account designated by You, Europ Assistance shall have no further liability or responsibility in respect of such payment, and it shall be Your sole responsibility to make collection of any misdirected payment in the event of incorrect details having been provided to Us.

Important notice

Under the new European Union (EU) travel regulations, You are entitled to claim compensation from Your Carrier if any of the following happen:

1 Denied boarding and cancelled flights

If You check in on time but You are denied boarding because there are not enough seats available or if Your flight is cancelled, the Carrier must offer You financial compensation.

2 Long delays

If Your flight is delayed for more than five hours, the airline must offer to refund Your ticket.

3 Luggage

If Your checked-in luggage is damaged or lost by an EU airline, You must claim compensation from the Carrier within seven days. If Your checked-in luggage is delayed, You must claim compensation from the Carrier within 21 days of its return.

You can download full details from http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/air_en.htm

Claims Procedure from 1st June 2012 to 31st August 2013

In an emergency

The Medical Emergency Assistance Company, Travel Guard, will provide immediate help if you are ill, injured or die outside the United Kingdom. They provide a 24-hour emergency service 365 days a year. The contact details are as follows:

Phone: +44 (0) 1273 400 610
Fax: +44 (0) 1273 376 935
E-mail: uk.assistance@travelguard.com

Please have the following information available when you (or someone on your behalf) contact the Medical

Emergency Assistance Company so that your case can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently:

• Your name and address;
• Your contact phone number abroad;
• Your policy number shown on your policy schedule; and
• The name, address and contact phone number of your GP.

Please note: This is not a private medical insurance. If you go into hospital abroad and you are likely to be kept as an inpatient for more than 24 hours or if your outpatient treatment is likely to cost more than £500, someone must contact the Medical Emergency Assistance Company for you as soon as reasonably possible. If they do not, we may not provide cover or we may reduce the amount we pay for your inpatient or outpatient treatment.

If you have to return to the United Kingdom under section C (Cutting your trip short) or section B1 (Medical and other expenses outside of the United Kingdom) the Medical Emergency Assistance Company must authorise this. If they do not, we may not provide cover or we may reduce the amount we pay for your return to the United Kingdom.

Making a claim on your return home

You must register a claim under all sections apart from section M2 (End supplier failure) by contacting the following company:

Travel Guard Claims Department
PO Box 60108, London SW20 8US
Phone: 0845 603 9892
Fax: 01273 376 935
E-mail: uk.claims@travelguard.com

(For details of how to claim under section M1/M2 please see your policy wording)

Please note:

All claims must be notified as soon as it is reasonably practical after the event which causes you to submit a claim.

Late notification of a claim may affect our acceptance of a claim or result in the amount we pay being reduced.

The Travel Guard Claims Department are open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. A claim form will be sent to you as soon as you tell them about your claim.

We will ask the claimant to complete a claim form and to provide at their own expense all reasonable and necessary evidence required by us to support a claim. If the information supplied is insufficient, we will identify the further information which is required. If we do not receive the information we need, we may reject the claim.

For further details about claims, please refer to General conditions on pages 13 to 14.

To help us prevent fraudulent claims, we store your personal details on computer and we may transfer them to a centralised system. We keep this information in line with the conditions of the Data Protection Act.

Claims Procedure from 1st September 2013

In an emergency

The emergency assistance service provides immediate help in the event of an insured person’s illness or injury whilst travelling abroad – they provide a 24 hour multi-lingual emergency service 365 days a year and can be contacted by telephone or fax. The emergency assistance service provided for you by this insurance is operated by Global Response and Healthwatch S.A.

In the event of any illness, injury, accident or hospitalisation which requires:
Inpatient treatment anywhere in the world, you must contact

Global Response
Phone: +44 (0) 113 318 1686
Fax: +44 (0) 113 318 3252
E-mail: operations@global-response.co.uk

Outpatient treatment anywhere in the world excluding North America and the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Eire, you must contact

Healthwatch S.A
Phone: +44 (0) 113 318 0124
Fax: +44 (0) 113 318 0125
E-mail: newcase@healthwatch.gr

Outpatient treatment in North America and the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Eire, you must contact

Global Response
Phone: +44 (0) 113 318 1686
Fax: +44 (0) 113 318 3252
E-mail: operations@global-response.co.uk

Global Response or Healthwatch S.A may be able to guarantee costs on your behalf. When contacting Global Response or Healthwatch S.A, please state that your insurance is provided by UK General Insurance Ltd and quote the appropriate scheme name:

Scheme Name : WWIISOutbacker
Reference Number : 05364A

Note: You must retain receipts for medical and additional costs incurred and you are responsible for any policy excess which should be paid by you at the time of treatment.

Making a claim on your return home

You must register a claim under all sections apart from section M2 (End supplier failure) by contacting the following company quoting WWIIS Outbacker 05364A:

Direct Group Travel Services Ltd
Phone: 0844 412 4296

(For details of how to claim under section M2 please see your policy wording)

Please note:

All claims must be notified as soon as it is reasonably practical after the event which causes you to submit a claim.

Late notification of a claim may affect our acceptance of a claim or result in the amount we pay being reduced.

The Direct Group Claims Department are open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. A claim form will be sent to you as soon as you tell them about your claim.

We will ask the claimant to complete a claim form and to provide at their own expense all reasonable and necessary evidence required by us to support a claim. If the information supplied is insufficient, we will identify the further information which is required. If we do not receive the information we need, we may reject the claim.

To help us prevent fraudulent claims, we store your personal details on computer and we may transfer them to a centralised system. We keep this information in line with the conditions of the Data Protection Act.

Claims Procedure from 8th March 2018

In an emergency

In case of a serious emergency please contact the 24 hour emergency assistance service provided by Emergency Assistance Facilities on
+ 44 (0) 203 829 6745

Call an ambulance using the local equivalent of a 999 number and then contact Emergency Assistance Facilities to offer you advice. We strongly suggest you put their telephone number + 44 (0) 203 829 6745 into your mobile phone before you travel so that it is to hand if you need it. Get details of the hospital you are being taken to so that our Emergency Assistance Facilities doctor will be able to obtain a medical report at the earliest possible opportunity. You may need to pay the policy excess locally and ask the hospital to send the rest of their bills to Travel Claims Facilities at: PO Box 420, Hadlow, Kent, TN9 9DE. Our appointed assistance service, Emergency Assistance Facilities will explain this to them and provide them with a faxed/email confirmation if necessary.

To make a claim

Please visit www.policyholderclaims.co.uk Or call 0203 829 6761. Open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday

For legal advice

Please contact Pannone LLP 0161 228 3851 or fax 0161 909 4444 Open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday

Useful Information

You will need to have some basic information to hand:

• your telephone number in case you are cut off
• patient’s name, age and as much information about the medical situation as possible
• name of the hospital, ward, treating doctor and telephone numbers if you have them
• tell them that you have Outbacker Travel Insurance, policy number and the date it was bought
• patient’s UK GP contact details in case they need further medical information

Things to be aware of/remember:

• your policy does not cover any costs private medical treatment unless authorised by us.
• NEVER give your passport to a clinic or hospital.
• It is not always possible to return home immediately after discharge following injury or illness, you will be able to return home when the assistance service considers it safe and airline regulations have been met. Sometimes you will need to stay in resort for a while longer before returning home so the assistance team will arrange additional accommodation for you.

Out-patient treatment of minor injury treatment

If you need to see a doctor ask your hotel reception or tour representative for the nearest public/state medical facility, Some hotels will urge you to seek private treatment, however this is not necessary, private medical facilities vary greatly and are not equipped to deal with all emergencies, they may give you unnecessary treatment and at inflated prices- if you are ever in doubt please call the assistance team for advice on where to seek treatment. In Europe you should show them your EHIC card, medical treatment will be free or at a reduced cost and you will not be required to contribute towards the claim as the standard policy excess will be reduced to NIL (increased excesses applied to declared conditions will still be required to be paid, if related to the cause of you requiring medical treatment). You will only be covered for the cost of private treatment if this is approved in advance by Emergency Assistance Facilities. If your outpatient bill is less than £500 then you will need to pay this to the medical facility, and ensure you keep all receipts so you can claim upon your return. In the event that you need to seek outpatient treatment when you are travelling in any of the countries listed below then it may be that immediate payment can be arranged locally using the services of Charge Care International whom we have appointed to act on our behalf. To take advantage of this service please show the treating doctor or clinic the logo printed here as this will enable then to identify our membership and avoid language difficulties. If the hospital you are treated at subscribes to this service they will ask to see your proof of insurance so it is important to carry this with you. You will be asked to complete a simple Charge Care form to confirm the nature of the treatment received. The doctor or clinic will collect the policy excess from you and send their bill to charge care for payment. The countries where this service is available are: Spain and all the Spanish Islands, Greece and the Greek Islands, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Egypt and Turkey. www.chargecareinternational.co.uk

What if you want to come home early?

This policy covers you to come home early because you are ill or injured, only if medical treatment is not available locally. If you are thinking of cutting short your trip because you are not well then you must contact Emergency Assistance Facilities on +44 (0)845 260 3 260 +44 (0) 1732 85 33 33 for advice first. If you need to come home for any other reason, such as the illness of a close relative in the UK then you should make your own arrangements, bearing in mind your duty to act at all times as if uninsured. If you are not sure whether your circumstances are included in the cover then call Travel Claims Facilities.